While the President and Mrs.
Nixon were visiting San Clemente two of us from the CCT was sent to Los Angeles
To prepare for another short side trip. The President was planning a short
visit to the residence of Samuel Goldwyn. Since this was a very short visit the
only requirement for us was to set up a radio base at the Century Plaza Hotel
consisting of Baker, Charlie and Sierra frequencies with phone patch
capabilities back to the Western White House.

March 27, 1 971 Presidents
Itinerary to the Samuel Goldwyn house In Beverly Hills Ca.

(10:07 to 10:41 AM) The
President flew by helicopter from the Western White House to the Los Angeles
helipad.

(10:43
to 10:45 AM) The President motored from The Los Angeles helipad to the
Residence of Chairman of the Board, Goldwyn Production Inc., Samuel Goldwyn.
The President was met by: Mrs. Samuel Goldwyn and Taft Schreiber, Vice
President, Music Corp. of America. The President then presented Samuel Goldwyn
with the Medal of Freedom.

(11:20
to 11:32AM) The President motored from the Residence of Samuel Goldwyn to the
Los Angeles helipad.

(11:41
to 2:00 PM) The President motored from the Los Angeles helipad to the Western
White House.

After
working all night to get the radios installed and installing circuits after
about four hours we were removing the Radio base stations and returning to San
Clemente.

Being assigned
to the Western White House did have many perks for all of us that were on the
staff. The White House Press Corp did
obtain some passes to sporting events in San Diego. I was able to take Don and
Bob with me to a San Diego Chargers football game, but in Jan. the 1971 NBA
All-star game was held at the San Diego Sports Arena. We found out that some of
us had Press Passes and our seats were on the floor under one of the baskets!
Any thoughts of basketball as being a non-contact sport soon was replaced after
I saw the activity that took place under the basket, pushing, shoving , elbows
and most of all when Billy Cunningham drove to the basket he met with Wilt Chamberlain’s finger in his
left eye. It was a great game and with only 48 seconds left to play,
Milwaukee's Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) scored on a
5-foot jumper and converted a free throw to give the West a 108-107 victory
over the East. MVP honors, however, went to Seattle Supersonics’ player-coach
Lenny Wilkens, the leading scorer with 21 points!

Entrance to the San Diego Sports Arena

It was great to watch so many future Hall of Fame players’ play in this game!

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About Me

Information about the White House Communications Agency and my experiences from 1965 to 1973. Including the Presidential Emergency Microwave Facilities built in the 1960's. Experiences at Camp David, Cannonball Tower(1965-1970). Accounts of several overseas support trips including the Presidents trip to China, a look at President Nixon's Western White House in San Clemente CA, and The Flordia White House in Key Biscayne FL.